Grade II listed building
Location:	Winnold House Wereham Wereham Wereham is a small village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk.-Location:Wereham lies in the Wissey valley and is on the main A134 road; it is some five miles to the east of the town of Downham Market and thirteen miles from King's Lynn... King's Lynn King's Lynn King's Lynn is a sea port and market town in the ceremonial county of Norfolk in the East of England. It is situated north of London and west of Norwich. The population of the town is 42,800.... Norfolk Norfolk Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county... United Kingdom United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
Built/Founded::	1199
Architectural styles:	Vernacular Vernacular architecture Vernacular architecture is a term used to categorize methods of construction which use locally available resources and traditions to address local needs and circumstances. Vernacular architecture tends to evolve over time to reflect the environmental, cultural and historical context in which it...
Designated as a LB:	9 July 1951

Winnold House, formerly the Benedictine Priory of St. Winwaloe, is a country house

English country house

The English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a London house. This allowed to them to spend time in the country and in the city—hence, for these people, the term distinguished between town and country...

 near Wereham

Wereham

Wereham is a small village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk.-Location:Wereham lies in the Wissey valley and is on the main A134 road; it is some five miles to the east of the town of Downham Market and thirteen miles from King's Lynn...

 in Norfolk

Norfolk

Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. The house is constructed from the remaining fragments of a former Benedictine

Benedictine

Benedictine refers to the spirituality and consecrated life in accordance with the Rule of St Benedict, written by Benedict of Nursia in the sixth century for the cenobitic communities he founded in central Italy. The most notable of these is Monte Cassino, the first monastery founded by Benedict...

 priory

Priory

A priory is a house of men or women under religious vows that is headed by a prior or prioress. Priories may be houses of mendicant friars or religious sisters , or monasteries of monks or nuns .The Benedictines and their offshoots , the Premonstratensians, and the...

. The priory was founded in 1199 and was dissolved in 1321. It was demolished in 1539, and the serviving fragments where incorporated into a house sometime in the 17th century, and was later rebuilt in the mid 19th century.

History

The priory of Wereham was founded by the earls of Clare during the rain of Richard I

Richard I of England

Richard I was King of England from 6 July 1189 until his death. He also ruled as Duke of Normandy, Duke of Aquitaine, Duke of Gascony, Lord of Cyprus, Count of Anjou, Count of Maine, Count of Nantes, and Overlord of Brittany at various times during the same period...

 in the late twelfth century. It was dedicated to Saint Winwaloe (a.k.a. Saint Guenolo), a British saint who flourished about 550 CE. in the sixth century, and whose body was enshrined in the abbey of Monsterol in the diocese

Diocese

A diocese is the district or see under the supervision of a bishop. It is divided into parishes.An archdiocese is more significant than a diocese. An archdiocese is presided over by an archbishop whose see may have or had importance due to size or historical significance...

 of Amiens

Amiens

Amiens is a city and commune in northern France, north of Paris and south-west of Lille. It is the capital of the Somme department in Picardy...

 in France, where he lived.

The earliest extant deed of the priory is one of 1199, whereby L., prior

Prior

Prior is an ecclesiastical title, derived from the Latin adjective for 'earlier, first', with several notable uses.-Monastic superiors:A Prior is a monastic superior, usually lower in rank than an Abbot. In the Rule of St...

 of Saint Winwaloe, with the consent and advice of his brother, Remigius, abbot of Monsterol, granted a toft and eleven acres to Robert de Stradesete. In 1270 there was an exchange of lands in Wereham between the abbot and convent of Wereham and the abbot and convent of Saint Salvin's of Monsterol, acting on behalf of the priory of Saint Winwaloe. At the time, the priory held lands in three Norfolk parishes, with the annual value of £7.

In 1321, the abbot and convent of Monsterol sold the priory to Hugh Scarlet of Lincoln, who conveyed it to Elizabeth de Clare

Elizabeth de Clare

Elizabeth de Clare was the heiress to the lordships of Clare, Suffolk in England and Usk in Wales. She was the youngest of the three daughters of Gilbert de Clare, 6th Earl of Hertford and Joan of Acre, and sister of Gilbert de Clare, who later succeeded as the 7th Earl...

, the foundress of Clare College

Clare College, Cambridge

Clare College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England.The college was founded in 1326, making it the second-oldest surviving college of the University after Peterhouse. Clare is famous for its chapel choir and for its gardens on "the Backs"...

 in Cambridge

Cambridge

The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...

. In 1336 she conveyed the manor and lands of the priory to the abbot and convent of Dereham on the condition that he would find a chaplain to say daily mass in the chapel of Saint Winwaloe for the souls of Gilbert, earl of Clare, and of Elizabeth and her ancestors and heirs forever. Ten years later Elizabeth granted the custody of the priory to her well-beloved friend, John de Brauncestre.

At the dissolution the manor of Winwaloe, late belonging to the abbey of Wereham, came to the crown, and was granted in the first instance to Thomas Guybon and William Mynn.

Design

The priories stonework is ashlar

Ashlar

Ashlar is prepared stone work of any type of stone. Masonry using such stones laid in parallel courses is known as ashlar masonry, whereas masonry using irregularly shaped stones is known as rubble masonry. Ashlar blocks are rectangular cuboid blocks that are masonry sculpted to have square edges...

 and coping

Coping (architecture)

Coping , consists of the capping or covering of a wall.A splayed or wedge coping slopes in a single direction; a saddle coping slopes to either side of a central high point....

, and the roof is composed of slate. South front of 2 storeys in 2 bays. 20th century door and porch to left. Windows are 3-light cross casements under re-used square hoods on head stops. Triangular stops to first floor casements. Moulded ashlar eaves cornice below gabled roof with 19th century internal end stacks carrying twin octagonal gault brick flues. Gable ends on kneelers. East wall with remains of external stack, flat buttress to left and clasping buttress to right, the latter being the remains of a 12th century pier: single shaft to left and on north face multi-shafted above set-off. 2 set-offs to east gable wall, remains of one C12 lancet and C17
attic window. North elevation with 12th century string course at first floor, flat central buttress and remains of annulated engaged column to right. 3 inserted casements and door. Dentil eaves cornice. To west an early C19 brick and ashlar extension of 2 storeys. 19th and 20th century casements, gabled slate roof and ridge stack right of centre with paired octagonal gault brick flues.